Summit touts Innovation Gainesville's impact on community

Innovation Gainesville is the Chamber of Commerce's plan to position the community as a hub for green and health technologies.

By Anthony ClarkBusiness editor

The growth of the Gainesville high-tech industry means more companies that start here want to stay here, more venture capital firms want to invest here and other businesses benefit as more high-wage jobs create more customers.

A lineup of business and community leaders testified Thursday to those benefits, which they say Innovation Gainesville already is providing the community. They spoke during the first iG Summit at the Best Western Gateway Grand.

Innovation Gainesville is the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce's plan announced a year ago to position the community as a hub for green and health technologies. The announcement came after a year of planning that involved input from hundreds of people in business, government, education and nonprofit agencies.

About 100 community leaders gathered for Thursday's summit, essentially a pep rally for the jobs plan to motivate volunteers and recruit new ones to work on the goals for year two.

Jane Muir of the University of Florida Office of Technology Licensing said a large venture capital firm the office is recruiting was most impressed by how the community has embraced bringing innovations such as those that spin out of UF research to market.

"IG has enabled us to get the attention of some very large players, and I envision working collaboratively with iG as we go out and market Innovation Square," she said.

UF and private owners are developing Innovation Square and the Innovation Hub on and around the former Shands AGH site for UF spinoffs and related businesses, making it a focal point for high-tech economic development efforts.

The Innovation Gainesville effort is not just about high-tech companies, as other businesses benefit from the high-wage customer base, said Joe Cirruli, owner of Gainesville Health and Fitness Center.

Downtown developer Linda McGurn, landlord to many tech startups, said one growing company moved to Tampa because it didn't think Gainesville could support a large company.

"But I think iG is going to change that because right now the companies that are here want to stay in Gainesville. They want to stay downtown," she said.

Many of the young innovators can be seen around downtown talking about their ideas, she said, including at a monthly mixer of tech startups and people interested in mentoring and investing that she referred to as "nerds' night out."

County Manager Randall Reid touted the benefits of government and business continuing to collaborate since the government wants residents to have jobs and grow its tax base.

"We want to streamline and target those kind of businesses this community wants into proper locations," he said.

That touches on one of the plan's major goals this year — to create more zones for fast-track development approval such as one in the works for Innovation Square so businesses in targeted industries have a place to go and can open faster.

Anthony Lyons and staff of the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency are credited with working on the Innovation Hub zoning, and Lyons continues to be involved in iG by heading up a task force trying to establish a seed fund to help startup companies.

Innovation Gainesville includes 20 business plans being rolled out based on priority.

Other major goals for the year include recruiting more businesses to hire at-risk interns, promoting Gainesville's innovation, and creating a community calendar that would serve as a one-stop source for innovative groups and events.

The internship program Earn While You Learn is designed to show at-risk high school kids the benefits of having career goals with the ultimate goal of improving graduation rates and providing a ready work force.

Andy Sherrard, co-owner of O2B Kids, said the effort needs more employers and funding sources. He said employers should be sold on the overall benefits to the community of employing at-risk kids and not just focus on the work production benefits.

The community calendar effort also will include networking events, including those that foster more events between people of different disciplines, said Adrian Taylor, pastor of Springhill Missionary Baptist Church.

The plan's long-term progress will be measured by the number of high-tech and high-wage jobs, per-capita income, the number of spinoff companies, investment dollars, sales taxes and high-school graduation rates.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.